Florina
Florina is a character from Fire Emblem: The Blazing Sword. She begins as a Pegasus Knight, but is able to promote to a Falcoknight if she is above level ten and uses an Elysian Whip. The member who plays her has done so since October 2007, and has been the first user to do so. Background The youngest of three sisters, Florina was born and and spent her childhood in Edessa, the nation's capital. The eldest of the three, Fiora, acted as the head of the family in place of absent parents. She flew missions as a mercenary to feed, clothe and shelter her younger sisters, distributing all her other earnings among the poor. Florina idolised her, and decided to become a pegasus knight willingly. Shortly before the onset of puberty, she met a pegasus of her own at the spring of Pyrene. Florina named him Huey, and found the pegasus to be just as timid as she was. After the two spent some time living and training together, they bonded, and their anxieties towards each other faded. Like other pegasi, Huey did not accept male riders. He grew agitated in the presence of men, feeding off the nervousness of his rider. This posed a smaller problem than it might have elsewhere: Ilia's military was open only to women. At some point during her time as a squire, Florina traveled to Sacae in order to further her training. While there, she suffered the dishonour of falling from her pegasus. Florina was rescued from both the tree she became stuck in and the bees flying at her by a member of the Lorca tribe, Lyn. Florina made her swear to keep the fall a secret, and the two became fast friends, Lyn acting as a protector to the young, shy squire. When it reached Florina's ears that Lyn was leaving Sacae on a journey, the in-training pegasus knight flew to try and follow her and be of some use. Florina attempted to land in a village in the Taliver Mountains and ask about Lyn's whereabouts. Unfortunately, she and her pegasus landed on a pair of Taliver bandits. Landing being the strong point of neither, they were captured for their pains. Florina and Huey were rescued by Lyn, Kent and Sain, and helped drive off the rest of the brigands. Lyndis' Legion, named by Wil, was created in part to give her a band of mercenaries to round out her training with. With the group, Florina became involved in Lyn's inheritance dispute with Lundgren, and helped deliver the unwitting noblewoman safely to Caelin. After Lundgren's defeat, she remained in Caelin to serve the royal family as a pegasus knight, second class. So that she would not be a burden to Lyn, now in her rightful place as Marquess Caelin's granddaughter, Florina spent the next year in rigorous training. When Caelin was sacked by Laus, Florina demonstrated what her training had done for her by pulling off a daring flight to seek out one of Lyn's allies. Had it not been for a timely shout from Eliwood, she and Huey would have been shot from the sky. Florina and Huey crash-landed as a result of careening dangerously. Instead of landing on brigands, they were caught by a giant of a man - marquess Ostia's younger brother. Once Lyn, Eliwood and Hector retook Caelin, the group absorbed Lyndis' Legions into their ever-growing army. Investigating the whereabouts of Eliwood's father, the group journeyed towards the Dread Isle. There, Florina was reunited with the commander of Ilia's fifth wing and her much-idolized older sister, Fiora. Fiora's soldiers had been slaughtered by the Black Fang while conducting investigations of their own into the island. Determined to honour their memory, Fiora was preparing to make a suicidal charge. Florina convinced her to instead join up with Eliwood's group. The middle sister, Farina, was later recruited by Hector for an outrageous fee. With the Ilian family together once more after almost two years, the older sisters were surprised to meet with a Florina who could - to an extent - manage her own affairs, and who never backed down from front line duties. Following the sealing of the Dragon's Gate, Florina returned to Ilia, but disappeared shortly afterward and entered the multiverse. Involvement Shortly after arriving in the multiverse, Florina became involved in the Heaven's Map saga. Though she tried to rescue the girl so many heroes and villains seemed to be after, Florina only managed to get both of them kidnapped by Luxord and the devil Mephistopheles. She was passed on to Zexion and eventually freed. Afterward, she roamed with only her pegasus for company, forming some friendships but never settling. She struggled with the technology of the multiverse, but eventually found places similar to Elibe. Florina was on the Moon when Luxord first attacked the Tower of Twilight. After helping some evacuees, she became involved in the battle against the Nobody. It was all she could do to fend off one of his dopplegangers. Like the others who remained to fight, she was swallowed by overwhelming darkness and died as a result. She awoke in the Netherrealm, and after a young gun-user, Will, forfeited his chance to live, was able to escape with her pegasus and the wolf Amaterasu. Upon returning to the multiverse proper, she sought out Will's fragile girlfriend and delivered the news of his death. Finding the girl, Isabella, to be both helpless and pregnant, Florina resolved to take her in, beginning a rather co-dependent friendship. Soon after, the Noblesse Oblige was formed. The pegasus knight was at first preferred to pass her days in Castle Crimea, particularly during Isabella's pregnancy and for the first few weeks after the birth of Hope. As the faction's membership began to expand, though, especially with many familiar faces, she gained the confidence to leave and adventure briefly. Trespassing in Hyrule, she repelled an army that attempted to invade Death Mountain and won from the commander of it a new lance to use. She also worked with Hector to drive a mix of Strawhat and Cornerian pirates out of Lake Hylia, gaining the three Spiritual Stones in the process. Not long after returning to the castle, Hector was kidnapped by the devil Mephistopheles and his personality was altered by a Helm of Opposite Alignment. This new Hector attacked some of those attempting to rescue him. Although the group, led by Eliwood, was able to bring him back to Crimea, Hector proclaimed himself king and tried to fight residents of the castle once more. Florina intervened and helped talk those involved down. In the same month, Hector summoned a dragon and used it to kill citizens and damage the castle. He fought Eliwood and attacked mercilessly in a one-sided battle. Florina found them before any decisive blows were struck and subdued the so-called Noble Devil. She then assisted Eliwood in procuring the legendary blade, Durandal, and helped to defeat Hector by combating his twin-headed mount and destroying his cursed lance. The combined efforts of the lord and pegasus knight were enough to restore their friend to his normal self. Hector remained so for barely an hour before he was the target of an assassin sent by Ganondorf. The King of Evil sought to strike a blow against Eliwood, his enemy, by killing the swordsman's sworn brother. Florina's presence was irrelevant in his scheme; she was affected nonetheless. She and Eliwood set upon the assassin, Kuroudo Akabane, almost at once, and their short battle was fierce and destructive. At the end of the fight, Eliwood used the last of his strength to protect Florina from a particularly brutal scalpel attack. Subsequently, she was given an opening to finish off the wounded Akabane. The pegasus knight chose to wound him painfully but not fatally. Florina then journeyed to her home world to travel to Ostia, Lycia's capital, on a personal mission. After her business there concluded, she returned to Crimea Castle. Upon her return, Florina threw herself into reviving the scattered faction as a distraction from grief. She called together the members of the Noblesse Oblige and helped them prioritize their roles. When she asked her factionmates what she could do in turn, they requested she become their ambassador. Rather than do so immediately, the pegasus knight chose to remain in familiar surroundings and strengthen her ties with her friends. In doing so, she had the pleasure of patting a doggy, not patting a goddess, learning about robots, and helping an amnesiac make sense of her shattered identity. The period of leisure was brought to an end when Ledah visited Castle Crimea, forcing Florina to confront both her role as ambassador and the reality that she had retreated from. Soon after his visit, she became part of a tri-faction effort to protect Hyrule from an invasion by Mephistopheles and some of his underlings. After the Lords of Midnight, Forgotten Hunters and Noblesse Oblige successfully fought the devil off, she and Tyurru attended to wounded Crimean soldiers, freeing up Eliwood and Sparrow to liaise with their temporary allies. Soon after, the faction met for a second time to discuss the repercussions of their victory, as well as the weeks ahead. The meeting was marred by tension between Eliwood and some other members of the faction, and momentarily disrupted entirely by Lady Grey. Despite this, Florina interrupted talk of a festival to announce that she was going to Icewind Dale, as building and rebuilding efforts there had recently been disrupted by dragon activity. Powers and Capabilities Florina's preferred weapon is a lance, and she fights from atop her pegasus in battle. Having participated in a substantial amount of single combat in the multiverse, she has also learned to fight on foot when necessary. Her fighting style mixes quick jabs with stronger blows that are designed to break armour or force weapons from hands, so that she can put her opponent out of action in a non-permanent manner. To this end, she occasionally wields her lance in reverse to deliver stunning blows. Florina relies on her agility and light armour to defend herself, and has a measure of resilience against cutting and stabbing weapons. The pegasus knight cannot stand up to brute force for long, and has a great deal of trouble with both mechanical opponents and fire. Although she has learned not to flee in the face of gunfire, she is poor at avoiding it and other ballistics. A well-aimed arrow or gunshot has the potential to send both pegasus and rider from the sky. Recently, the pegasus knight has begun carrying a small, light sword at her side. Her attacks with it are very fast, but straightforward and predictable. She has had no formal training in swordsmanship in the multiverse. Quotes * "I think the most important things are the welfare of anybody we are looking out for - especially the Crimeans who have done so much for us - and that whatever we decide, we work together to do it." - Florina, while meeting with her factionmates. Trivia *Her pegasus Huey is often viewed as 'the embodiment of evil' due to his mischievous and harmful treatment of other members of the Noblesse Oblige. Florina has yet to witness any of these incidents due to Huey's craftiness and Florina's 'innocent' view of Huey. *Huey has also been mentioned by name as Makar in the game, and as a mare. The user playing Florina chose the sillier name. *She's been given the nickname of Flo, which has stuck for both her as a character and as a handle for the user who plays her. *Her favourite food is strawberry-flavoured icecream. *Florina is a moderately popular custom character to make when members of CERP play Soul Calibur IV online. Her incarnations there include: loli!Flo, suplex!Flo, nurse!Flo and Florino. See also * Amaterasu * Eliwood * Isabella External links * Castle Stable - Florina's stats * Florina on the Fire Emblem WIki Category:Player Characters Category:Dropped Characters